Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys

Ruthanna Emrys takes Lovecraft’s legacy into the lives, blood, and fears of the people of Innsmouth. But unlike Lovecraft, this isn’t a horror novel; it’s a detective thriller involving spies, occultists, Miskatonic University, concentration camps and some of the most well-imagined magic I’ve read in years.

Winter Tide is set in aftermath of WW II, amidst the fears of communist infiltrators, Nazi ritualism, and the aftermath of the Japanese concentration camps. Aphra Marsh is a heroine who is easy to connect to. She’s lost most of her family on land, but gained a new one in the Japanese family who “adopted” her while they were all held prisoner in the camps.

Now, the US Government wants Aphra to help them find a Russian spy who may have stolen secrets from Miskatonic University. Aphra and her brother agree to help, but their true motive is to recover the volumes of family and racial history that was stolen from the people of Innsmouth.

Winter Tide delves deep into the history and the half-human “people of the water,” the mysterious Yith, and the ever-present risk of brushing up against the uncaring Deep Ones for those who won’t heed what history teaches. I loved the book, especially the concept of the “inner tide” and the connections it forges. Aphra’s love for her people and their history, her righteous anger at the government, and her determination to save what she can show that the Innsmouth kind are not the monsters here.

I suggest you visit Tor.com to read The Litany of Earth, a short story that preceeds the events in the novel.